Changing Patterns
by Immoral Atlantian
Summary: Airen is a teen with an attitude problem. Something unexpected happens-she turns out to be a mutant. Searching for a way back to her own dimension, she and her friends may find a reason to stay.(AU-Rated for language and mild violence. Death toll: 1 Opps)
1. Challenges Await

Headstrong  
Back off we'll take you on,  
Headstrong to take on anyone,  
I know that you are wrong,  
Headstrong we're headstrong,  
Back off we'll take you on,  
Headstrong to take on anyone,  
I know that you are wrong and this is not where you belong.

* * *

In a large school building, twelve friends met in the commons to discuss the newest changes in the school rules. A tall female, about 5'9" with dark brown hair that gleamed fire-red in the sunlight sat, listening to her friends gossip and debate. She was the oldest in the group, at age 16. Her hard gray eyes seemed distant as she sat in deep thought.  
  
"Plus," Continued a shorter boy who was at 14, his light brown eyes lively, "The Principal said that anyone who doesn't belong to a club at the end of the week gets a 5% deduction from their end of the year grades for everyday they didn't belong to one."  
  
"Dumb people..." Exclaimed the girl, also 14, who sat to the eldest girl's immediate left. "This only will encourage gang-like activity." She shook her flame-red hair angrily.  
  
"What do you think, Lux? Err, Lux?" Probed a young boy who was slightly older than the others at 15. His light blue eyes narrowed as he looked at the grey eyed girl. "Airen?" He tried, using her preffered nickname.  
  
Lux, or Airen, looked up in surprise. "Hmm?" She looked around. The other eleven people watched her cautiously. She was known to have a swift temper and sharp tongue that even her friends were rarely shielded from. She was known to be a bit slow in thought and swift to attack. Lightly covered in muscles that she kept toned in weight lifting, she was not someone to mess with. Her gray eyes were abnormally dark in a stormy-silver color, one that was usually seen when she was placid, at least for the time being.  
  
The others relaxed a bit. Tanner, the 15-year-old, repeated his question. Elisa, the flame-haired girl, watched Airen's eyes cautiously, as did Zenn, who sat nearby, his light-brown eyes carefully neutral.  
  
"It's okay. We already have a cult, why now make it official?" Airen murmured.  
  
"If it's atright, I'd rather be in the basketball club." Jordan, a tan-skinned girl said.  
  
"I have no problem with that." Airen replied. "Anyone else?"

* * *

Later that day, Airen was sent to the Principal's office. Again. Airen reflected on today's list of excuses when the door opened. She blinked and stood up, stretching her strong, lean frame as she entered the office.  
  
"Lux... Now what?" Principal Oakland moaned. Usually she could keep their private 'chats' down to a minimum of two a week, but this was the fith one today. And To think that it was only Third Hour.  
  
Rather than try to lie as she had planed, something she normally did as her real excuses were rather odd, she tried going it the hard way for once.  
  
"John," Airen began, coming on to first name basis in return for him calling her by her hated first name, "it was the teacher's fault."  
  
"And how would that be, Lu... Em. Airen?" He asked, taking the hint. Airen surpressed a smirk. At times, she knew that even Principal John Oakheart was afraid of her temper.  
  
"She said the same things over and over. I just did the worksheet." Airen shrugged. She remembered getting bored with her English teacher's droning on about grammer while she had handed out the papers. Exhausted with trying to understand, she had started on the worksheet before they had been given premission to start. "She made me rip it up. Then she gave me another one. I did that one, and she made me throw that one out too." Airen leaned back against the wall with a sigh, shoving her hands into her pockets. Damn stupid English teacher. As if Airen didn't already know indirect and direct objects by heart. "I apologized and she said I was giving her an attitude." Airen smirked then. "She walked by me and I tripped her. End story, what's my punishment?" At the end, Airen yawned.  
  
"Well, for someone who has a, well, nearly perfect score in English, you sure do speak lazily enough." Airen grinned at this and was about to re- state her report in proper English down to the very last word when the Principal interrupted her, "This is you're tenth visit here this week, fifth TODAY. Airen, I have no choice other than to suspend you."  
  
"What about the club?" Airen asked. At lunch, they had decided to base their club on the X-Men, the remaining in the group being quite fond of Marvel's mutants in one way or another. Though they would secretly also vent their anger of school and the stupider teachers together too.  
  
"Elisa, your second, will get control, your friends won't suffer for this." Airen relaxed a bit with a sigh. "Can you walk home?" Airen nodded. "Good. I'll show you to the door."

* * *

'That went better than I expected.' John Oakland thought to himself as he walked down the empty hallways to the nearest exit. He looked again into Airen's placid silver-stormy eyes. 'She's gotten better at holding her anger in.'  
  
At the door, he apologized to Airen. "From now until you get back, you're records will remain untouched." He assured the tall student. She turned to him.  
  
"Really?" She asked, her eyes lightening to pure silver.  
  
"Yes." He insisted. 'How odd. I've never seen her eyes that color... Dammit!'  
  
John hopped up and down, holding his injured leg. Airen had just kicked him, and non-too lightly either. She even had the nerve to wink at him as she left.

* * *

That night, Airen fell across her bed, knowing that she wouldn't be in trouble for getting kicked out of school until the morning when her dad got back from his business trip. A sudden wave of nausea hit her, sending her running into her bathroom. When she had emptied her stomach of her dinner, Airen crawled, shivering, under her covers.

* * *

Erik Magnus Lensherr, more commonly known by many as Magneto, sat behind his metallic desk. The few who had lived long enough to get a good look at him wouldn't recognize him. His once well-kept hair had grown to his shoulders. His keen icy-blue eyes were clouded and dull. The only thing that wasn't unusual about his appearance is the fact that he'd shaved.  
  
With a sigh he leaned back on his chair, glaring at the bottle of aspirin, willing it to work. Unfortunately, this only succeeded in making the headache worse. Someone rapped as softly as they could on a metallic door, but Magneto still inwardly flinched at the loudly-resounding noise.  
  
"Enter." He growled. The door swung inward noiselessly and a tall teenager stood uncertainly. His medium length auburn hair was neatly kept, and his very presence was graceful. The only part about him that could make him unattractive to any female was his eyes. Crimson red on black eyes make him seem threatening, something that in his line of work, helped.  
  
"Sir? I 'ave a letter for you." He said, obviously nervous in Magneto's presence. Magneto looked at him, his eyes becoming a steel-blue color.  
  
"From whom?" He asked softly.  
  
It was obvious that the tone he used was one of his more dangerous ones, as his Acolyte tensed. He shook his head slowly.  
  
"There was no return address." He murmured. "Should I get rid of it?"  
  
"No, Gambit. I'll take it." The teen, Gambit, set a letter he drew from his trench coat on the desk. Knowing his boss, at lest as well as anyone could know the unpredictable and dangerous mutant, he took his leave.  
  
When the door had closed, he picked up the letter. He sent his power through the envelope and found a small piece of metal. He ripped the top off and dumped out the contents: A small, round metal disk with a logo on it and a brief letter.  
  
Magneto,  
I am a fan of how you deal with humans. Mayhap sometime we could come to an alliance. But first, I wish to have a trade. One mutant, preferably teen-aged or younger for my gift of eternal youth. But not just any mutant. It must have the power to travel through dimensions. If you accept this trade, say 'Yes'. If not, 'No'. My logo pin, included in the envelope, has a transmitter. Either word will activate one of two different signals, and I will know your answer.  
  
Eternity  
  
Magneto read it over carefully and sighed. 'Hell with it. I have nothing better to do right now.' He thought as he looked at the disk. The logo was blood red on black, a shape of the Eye of Horus on it. As he crumpled the paper he said one word, "Yes." 


	2. Eternal Changes

Thanks to my reviewer, MichuChan. I've already completed this fic, but I'm not too happy with the overall... detail... And I can't get myself to consentrate on fixing it up more...

* * *

Harder to Breath

How dare you say that my behavior is unacceptable  
So condescending unnecessarily critical  
I have the tendency of getting very physical  
So watch your step cause if I do you'll need a miracle  
  
You drain me dry and make me wonder why I'm even here  
This Double Vision I was seeing is finally clear  
You want to stay but you know very well I want you gone  
Not fit to funkin' tread the ground I'm walking on  
  
When it gets cold outside and you got nobody to love  
You'll understand what I mean when I say  
There's no way we're gonna give up  
And like a little girl cries in the face of a monster that lives in her dreams  
Is there anyone out there cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe

* * *

The afternoon sun warmed Airen's face. She shook her head when a butterfly perched on her cheek. It was startled into flight, beating its wings angrily before taking off. Airen opened her eyes, and stared into the sun until her eyes hurt. She closed them and barely registered that a cool breeze chilled her slightly.  
  
Started, she leapt to her feet, and looked around. She was in an alleyway. She looked herself over, and found that all of her clothes from the previous day, down to her shoes, were on. Including, one additive: a sword. She stared at it. 'I'd think that this was a dream if I could. I never dreamed before.' 

Startled and confused, she drew the sword. She'd never held a sword before, much less worn one. The blade was a light blue, almost crystal like in its faded color. The blade shimmered in the sunlight, the edge obviously sharper than a razor. The hilt had a good grip to it, and she turned it slightly, studying it. It was beautiful and dangerous looking at the same time. She resheathed it before she accidently stabbed herself and sighed.  
  
She walked towards the street and found a friend in her dream. It was Zenn. He walked past her without a glance, his eyes troubled. Airen leapt after him, following him until he realized that she was there.  
  
"Jesus! What's your problem?" He snapped. His sandy-blonde hair was a bit too messy for Airen's liking. Also, his stance was too confident...  
  
"I just wanted to say 'hi' and ask why you're in my dream." Airen said, keeping a sharp rein on her temper.  
  
"Druggie! Get lost." Zenn began to walk off. Airen grabbed his shoulder and grasped him firmly. "Let go or I'll call the cops."  
  
"What's wrong with you? Don't you remember me?" Zenn tried to jerk away, and Airen increased the pressure of her grip until he gasped in pain. "Zenn, it's me! Airen."  
  
"Help!" Zenn shouted. People had begun to stare at the sword-bearing figure that held a small boy in a one-handed death grip.  
  
Airen's anger had risen slowly, but him trying to get her arrested and ignoring her at the same time was too much. She let go and smacked him hard across the face, sending him sprawling.  
  
"Zenn Cress! How dare you..." She stepped menacingly forward. Suddenly, Zenn looked up at her, a bruise already forming on his delicate face.  
  
"Airen?" He whispered. Airen bit her tongue to calm herself as she slowly nodded. "What happened? Where are we?" Her eyes softened as she realized that her friend had had no control of himself.  
  
"Let's compare notes." She said.

* * *

As the sun set in the west, Airen, Zenn, Jasmyn, Elise, and James, all friends from the club, traveled down the streets of the new town.  
  
"And when Airen punched me," Jasmyn, the last person to have joined the group that day continued, "I realized that something else had been controlling me..." She touched her black eye.  
  
Airen look up at the appearing stars, guilt at hurting her friends welling up in her. She closed her eyes briefly to stop the oncoming tears. If she appeared weak now, the others would panic. She rested her hand on the hilt on her new sword and sighed.

* * *

Elise watched Airen, wanting to comfort her friend. Although she appeared rough and slow in the head, she was the brightest among them, as well as the strongest. Also, she had never really hurt anyone, and had never raised a hand to her friends, even the ones that obviously got on the nerves. They, she got into arguments with until her quick mind and sharp tongue left them humbled.  
  
She watched as Airen appeared to stargaze, but Elise wasn't fooled. Ever since she had gotten here she had had a strong 'idea' in her mind of how others felt. Never before had she known that her bold, confidant friend was really delicate in her emotions.  
  
Suddenly, she whipped around, feeling an odd confident-feeling coming up on them.  
  
"Airen? Someone's coming." She whispered. At her call, Airen and the others snapped to the defensive. Airen herded her friends and Elise into a nearby alley and drew her sword, hid it behind her sheath to conceal its deadly gleam, and stood before them.  
  
'Airen's never had a sword before! How can she feel so confident that she can use it?' Elise mentally gasped. A tall, thickly built man stopped before the mouth of the alley, and gazed at Airen, his eyes intent.  
  
"Try'n ta hide from me?" He grinned. Somehow Elise imagined that fangs would fit in his mouth better that the normal teeth he had. "Name's Logan. I was ask'd ta find five young mut'nts 'round here. I figured you're them."  
  
"We aren't mutants... Logan... Just lost kids." Airen sounded confidant, though she fumbled with his name. But Elise could feel the confusion and fear coming from her.  
  
"Dun't lie ta me. I c'n smell that you're not be'n truthf'l. I wun't hurt ya... Nor your fr'ends." He held out his hands.  
  
Then Airen startled them all by asking, "Do you have claws?"  
  
With a sigh, he produced six claws, three to a hand. Zenn backed away in fear.  
  
Airen showed her sword and sheathed it. "Cress, don't be afraid. He's from the X-Men." Logan's eyebrows rose. "We aren't mutants, sir. But we aren't from around here. As a matter of fact, we're not even from this world. Could you help us?"  
  
Elise wasn't alone at gaping at her. It was a basic rule that Airen didn't address someone as 'sir' unless she trusted and respected them whole- heartedly. Another rule was that she never asked anyone anything. Much less a stranger who she hadn't spoken more than ten sentences with, two of them questions. And X-Men?  
  
"I'm not the one ta help ya. The Prof. might be able ta, though." Airen relaxed entirely to Elise's amazement.  
  
"That would be great." She said. Never once did she ask if everyone was okay with that. Elise decided to try something.  
  
"What if we don't want to trust this... mutant? What will you do then?" Logan felt saddened by her words.  
  
Airen, however, grinned; knowing that Elise was testing her. "Then you'll never get the chance to be around real mutants. Also, you'll have a horrible chance of figuring out how we got here, and an even worse one finding out how to get back." She waited for anymore complaints. Elise felt Logan's confidence in Airen, the same feeling that everyone else gave her. Airen turned to Logan. "How do we get there?"

* * *

Airen stood sharply to attention as Professor Xavier entered the room. She'd always heard that he was the most powerful psychic in this world. His knowledge was endless as far as she was concerned.  
  
"Welcome to our world." Xavier said. "As you may know, I am Professor Charles Xavier, founder of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Please, sit down." He indicated five empty chairs. Logan leaned against the wall, watching like a guardian. Airen watched the others sit, though Xavier's eyes were on her.  
  
Realizing that they were waiting for her before continuing, Airen swiftly said, "I don't like to sit." Xavier shook his head briefly and smiled.  
  
'I wonder. How does this world compare to the cartoons? The comics? What's real and what isn't? Are these people really who they seem to be?' With these and multiple other thoughts, Airen listened to Xavier explain the Institute's rules, the situation between humans and mutants, and tell them that all five of them were, in fact, mutants themselves.  
  
Zenn shook his head. James glared as though insulted. Jasmyn and Elise spoke swiftly to each other in eagerness. Airen closed her eyes, remaining silent.  
  
(You I worry about the most. With an adventurous heart and powerful mind, what will you do?) Airen looked at Xavier. He had his hand up to his head, and Airen didn't doubt his powers at all. She smiled.  
  
(May I ask to meet Magneto?) Xavier frowned at this. (I probably might not join him, but it'd be nice to know how I stand in this world.)  
  
(How would this help you?)  
  
(Something just tells me that I'll learn a lot just by meeting him.)

* * *

After the arrangements were made, Airen set off, walking briskly in no general direction. She had her sword strapped to her left hip, and her friends were safe and sound, learing about their powers. She felt comforted and confidant at these two factors. But confusion also brimmed her emotions. Why did she feel like she had to meet Magneto?

* * *

Magneto paced, his anger mounting. For the eighth time, he checked the paper he'd found on his desk that morning.  
  
Magneto  
I'm glad you agreed. I'll tell you my whole plan and if you're all that everyone claims you are, I'll show you how to create items that are just like the one I sent you. Meet me in the Bayville Park at 8:00 PM.  
  
Eternity  
  
Magneto clenched the paper in one large hand, the paper crumpled in submission. He was about to leave when a young man rushed up. By reflex, Magneto was about to blast him back when it hit him; 'This kid is Eternity?'  
  
With a grin, the young man nodded to Magneto, who glared. If Eternity took any notice of his lateness, he said nothing. Magneto stifled the urge to crush this young brat, but settled with crossing his arms.  
  
"I can feel that you are indeed the almighty Magneto." The said person snorted softly. "Before we go on, I have something to show you." He knelt down beside his brief case and pulled out a common-looking watch. Magneto arched an eyebrow. "This device I've tried out myself. It increases the endurance, power, and all round stamina of any mutant."  
  
"And you would show me this why?" Magneto questioned. A warning feeling floated in the back of his mind, but he ignored it.  
  
"Because I wish to give you it." He held it out.  
  
'If he's lying, this will indeed be an entertaining night.' Magneto thought as he took the offered watch and strapped it onto his wrist. He examined it, finding the button labeled 'ACTIVATE', and pressed it. Immediately he felt the changes.  
  
Eternity grinned. "I can't believe it. This was too easy." Magneto suddenly felt exhausted. As he went down, he remembered hearing Eternity say, "Just send your Acolytes to find a person that could never exist and have you come on your own. Too trusting..." After that he remembered nothing.

* * *

Airen felt a chill run down her back as she neared the local park. She seriously doubted that the mutant that she was looking for was here, but she felt that she should go in. She bristled with a mixture of emotions as she drew towards the park. Uneasily she wished that she knew why her emotions were so insanely powerful about this place and about Magneto.  
  
She hadn't gone two steps into the park when a blunt object clashed against her head. She drew her sword and slashed out, but could do no more before she blacked out. 


	3. Rising Power

MichuChan: Yeah, well.. I'm never got around to explaining about it but then next part, as of now unnamed but in progress, goes much smoother. This fic is her.. abrupt, but my writing skills have improved much. The next part should be up after the Epilogue is up. And the next part still isn't my best work. (censored) muse....

Jazz: Hello! I was trying to fix it and I accidentally KO'd it. Go figure. Other then that, I'm just messing around, trying to fix mistakes and such. And.. uh, Chuckles.. You're Koing the connection cord... How're you going to deal with no internet? LOL..

* * *

Echo

Do I expect to change  
The past I hold inside  
With all the words I say  
Repeating over in my mind  
  
Some things you can't erase  
No matter how hard you try  
An exit to escape  
Is all there is left to find  
  
Close my eyes  
Let the whole thing pass me by  
There is no time  
To waste asking why

* * *

Airen awoke slowly. A throbbing pain in her head restrained her ability to think. She opened her eyes, squinting in the light. She tried to move and found herself bound. 'My sword...' She thought weakly. She looked up and saw the sword floating at the door of her mesh-wired cage. She looked at it closer and realized that it was tied to the door, not floating by it. She sighed in releif, decidingb that her head injury was messing with her prespective.  
  
She tried to inch towards the nearest wall, but was stopped by a tired voice, "I wouldn't do that were I you." She looked around and saw a young man sitting, unbound in a cage next to hers. He looked vaguely familiar. She squinted her eyes at him and he grinned in return. "Electric charged." As if in proof he held up a slightly charred hand, wistfully looking at it.  
  
"Who are you?" She asked.  
  
"I'm not really anyone right now. Who are you?" His grin returned. Airen sighed.  
  
'I'm locked up next to a psycho.' She mentally groaned.  
  
Out loud she said, "My name is Lux, but anyone who wants to live calls me Airen." His grin vanished. Solemnly, he nodded. "You a mutant?" She probed.  
  
"I believe so." He said. "I can't remember much really. Not even why I'm unable to remember why I can't remember. Ironic, eh?" He slowly stood up on shaky legs and began to pace.  
  
'Do you know about Magneto?' Airen mentally questioned. Out loud, she instead asked, "What do you think of non-mutants?" He stopped. Anger burned in his once-lucid blue eyes, turning then a hard steel-blue color. But just as swiftly as the emotion began, it ceased. He shrugged and resumed his pacing.  
  
She watched him and swiftly her dislike for sitting came back. She tried to stand, only mansaged to stumble into the electric-charged wiring. Pain seared through her. The ropes binding her broke away and she grabbed onto the fencing, roaring, "Deste! En rivion deste. Cresto!" The electricity continued to flow, but instead of shocking her, it crackled over her skin. Finally, she had too much and weakly pushed herself away. She stood for a few seconds before coming down onto her knees.  
  
"Are you okay?" The stranger asked. He appeared genuinely concerned. She weakly nodded. Guards came in, muscle-heavy, and opened her companion's door. She watched his eyes. Again, hate burned, but it didn't stay for long. He allowed them to herd him out.  
  
Airen prayed that her new friend would be all right. She massaged her aching hands and waited.

* * *

Somehow, he was aware of what he looked like, even though he'd never seen himself. Perhaps a few years older than that girl, Airen. He'd liked her. Too bad. The boss of this place seemed to have a habit of killing people that were in that particular cage. Anger grew in him. Then it vanished, leaving him with only one, for no reason seemingly troubling, thought, 'Who's Airen?'  
  
He was brought into an arena. He imagined it was a very distinct copy of the famous arena in Rome, except that this arena was made up of metal.  
  
"Do you know what you're going to do now, my friend?" He looked into the stranger's eyes and shook his head. "You are going to get your powers back and kill the person who comes through that door." After pushing a button on his watch, he pointed to a large iron gate. "Don't disappoint me." He walked back a few steps and shouted, "Release."  
  
A young woman stumbled in, her gray eyes silver in anger. She waved her sword at the gate. He narrowed his eyes. Hadn't he met her before? 'No.' With that, he charged, his power enveloping him.

* * *

Airen stared at her friend, confused. Her sword jerked out of her grasp and went to him. It then stopped and turned right back at her! Airen held her breath and ran at the sword, jerking left before it could run her through. Unfortunately, she was still weak and the maneuver brought her crashing down. A sharp pain stabbed at her ankle. She released a bit of her built up electricity, throwing it at her sword as it came around again, and knocking it away. She stared at ter outstreched hand, baffled at what had happened. Was that her mutation?  
  
Her friend's hands found her neck and closed in, cutting off her breath. She looking up at him, confused. His eyes were emotionless as though her life meant nothing to him. She grabbed onto his right wrist and found a watch. Grimly, she sent a power surge through it, resulting in a huge blast that knocked them apart.  
  
Airen fought another blackout as she stood back up. She looked at the man that had watched the entire time. He fought in vain to get through the door in the arena to escape. She leaned against the wall and found it made up of metal. She sent her last amount of electricity through it and turned away from the man. His scream echoed in the dome, but she only flinched when he stopped.  
  
She limped slowly towards her friend, who looked up at her, startled. His eyes were bright with regained memories. She painfully lowered herself next to him and smiled grimly.  
  
"You know who I am?" He asked. She nodded. Tired, he closed his eyes and sighed. "Then go." He then went oddly still, unconcious.  
  
"We'll leave." Airen announced grimly. She set a hand on his shoulder and closed her eyes, focusing on being anywhere but here, his choice.

* * *

When she opened her eyes they were in a large bedroom. She barely managed to set him on top of his bed before she could find a chair. Her last thoughts before she fell into a deep sleep were, 'I wonder what he'll do when his powers are back completely?'


	4. Darkness Closes

Jazz: Uh, noo... I weren't gonna do dat. OoUU Why would I? Didn't you read the first one? Crazy person. LOL!

FYI: I forgot Rising Power. I'm editing it right now.

* * *

Unwell

All day staring at the ceiling  
Making friends with shadows on my wall  
All night hearing voices telling me  
That I should get some sleep  
Because tomorrow might be good for something  
  
Hold on  
Feeling like I'm headed for a breakdown  
And I don't know why  
  
But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell  
I know right now you can't tell  
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see  
A different side of me  
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired  
I know right now you don't care  
But soon enough you're gonna think of me  
And how I used to be...me  
  
I'm talking to myself in public  
Dodging glances on the train  
And I know, I know they've all been talking about me  
I can hear them whisper  
And it makes me think there must be something wrong with me  
Out of all the hours thinking  
Somehow I've lost my mind

* * *

Magneto slowly opened his eyes. Searing pain shot through him so fast it left him dizzy. 'Where am I?' He forced himself to sit up. The bed sheets rolled placidly off of him as he looked around. He was at his base, but the question was how? He turned his attention to the young woman sprawled out in an uncomfortable looking position in a chair. The corner of his mouth twitched in amusement. 'She'll feel that when she wakes up.'  
  
He forced himself out of bed and thought about changing his clothes. He looked back at Airen and shook his head. If she awoke while he was doing that... Well, he could move her.... No. He'd wait for her to move her self.  
  
Magneto stifled a groan as he limped out of the room towards the kitchen. There was only one more thing he needed to check on before he tried aspirin again. He opened the cupboard and stared at his reflection.  
  
: Pain shot through him. Eternity laughed insanely. Briefly her heard, "Wouldn't it be better to have complete control over him before you rejuvenate his body?" :  
  
Magneto found himself kneeling, holding his head as though to stop the memories that fled his mind. Gasping, he used the counter to stand up. He was shaking visibly.  
  
"Ehem?" He glared as he looked at Airen. Her eyes were a deep shadowy gray. "I'm no doctor, but I know two things: One, you're not immortal no matter what you may think. Two, you should be resting."  
  
"And who asked you?" He growled in response. She grinned, and suddenly he wished he'd killed her when he had the chance.  
  
"You may as well listen to me, Erik." She paused as though startled at calling him by his first name. He certainly was. "You can't send me home because I can't get a feel for the outside world from your protective dome. The only way is for me to go outside, and then I'd surely know where the base is located. If I knew that when I went back to the X-Men, Xavier would learn of your location without me telling him." He glared. "And if you think that you or someone else is just going to kill me or knock me out and leave me in an alleyway..." She drew her sword. "From my memory, I believe everyone who comes here to work for you is male?" She sliced at the air with her sword menacingly. "Do you know what 'gelded' means?"  
  
Magneto leaned back against the counter, holding his arms behind them to conceal his shaking. Not in fear of Airen of course. "So how can I get you to work for me?"  
  
Airen sheathed her sword and said, "I don't work for people who work themselves to death." She paused. "Besides in-world and off-world teleportation, I can speak a tongue which makes no sense even to me," She wrinkled her nose at this, "I have a connection with electricity and so far untapped power." She stared up at the ceiling as the lights flickered. "Hinse." She hissed. The lights went back to normal.  
  
'Maybe it's not a second language. She could just be crazy.' He closed his eyes and willed his body to quite shaking. It promptly ignored him. 'I'm about eighteen, stuck in a kitchen with a deranged psychopath and I'm too weak to move. How could this be any better?' A knock sounded at the door as if in response to his thought. He 'pulled' the door open.

* * *

Airen frowned at Erik, 'No, I'm not going on a first name basis with him.' As he opened the door with his power. Four people flooded in. The first one, 'Remy, code name Gambit.' Watched her with interest as he pulled up a chair and sat down, his eyes intent. The second was a big Russian youth. 'Peter, code name Colossus.' The third growled angry curses as he paced, trying to get warm. 'John. Like my principal.' She grinned at this. 'AKA, Pyro.' The final wiped the grin off of her mouth. She tensed and narrowed her eyes as she watched the one simple called 'Sabertooth'.  
  
"She new, boss?" Remy asked. Airen ignored his gaze, watching Sabertooth. He bared his fangs.  
  
"Go ahead, fight her." Magneto said confidently. "Don't kill him, though." He added to Airen. Sabertooth grinned and advanced. Airen spread herself out as she stretched, watching him as he came closer.  
  
'I'm too weak to move effectively. Plan B.' She thought as her body screamed in pain at the minor stretches.  
  
She straightened and pointed a finger. The lights flickered eagerly. "Norsen." The room and all other electrical appliances and outlets glowed before the power snapped through the room and enter twined around Airen. "Deste." The lights went back to normal, as did everything else. Pyro's short hair was sticking out at all angles, and Sabertooth looked like a puffy fuzz-ball. Airen absorbed the power into her skin. "Your move."  
  
"Don't do it." Pyro murmured. Unfortunately, the effort to stop Sabertooth's fueled his anger and frustration. He lunged. Airen smirked. Without a command, the power leapt from her pores and struck Sabertooth. Not enough to stop him, though.  
  
The Acolytes winced each time the electricity struck Sabertooth. They winced a lot. 'He's dumb.' Airen began to smell his hair and flesh char. "Deste." She said again. Sabertooth lunged again. In a split second, adrenaline powered her body as she drew her sword and smacked his head with the broad side of her blade. Hard.

* * *

After Colossus and Remy had dragged Sabertooth into his room and closed the door, Magneto explained her abilities to the extent of his knowledge.  
  
"Well, if the boss hires you," Airen snorted at this, "I'll show you around." Remy winked.  
  
"I don't date. And certainly I'm not interested in anything related to the subject." Airen said firmly. Remy looked about to argue. "Do you know what 'gelded' means?"  
  
"It's what you do to males to..." Remy trailed of and Airen began to draw her sword. "It's been a long day. I'll see you in the morning." He fled. Pyro and Colossus followed suite, wary of the vicious teen.  
  
For the first time in a long while, Airen sat down in comfort. 'That definitely could have been worse.' She thought to herself. Erik... 'Magneto' She corrected herself again, sat down, still tired. She thought of something that had been bothering her since the little bout she'd had with Sabertooth.  
  
"Magneto, what had your Acolytes so wound up?" She asked. Magneto closed his eyes and seemed so lost in thought that she became afraid that he'd fallen asleep.  
  
"Eternity sent me a promising letter. If I found a mutant that could travel through dimensions he'd give me an 'eternal youth'." He sighed. "I must be getting old. Not too long ago, I never would have fallen for such an obvious trap."  
  
Airen watched as his eyes clouded for a second. He then closed then and shook his head as though to clear his mind. She frowned, feeling an impossible liking for the man that was a stranger and known killer. Along with that liking that she knew she shouldn't be harboring came a trust that she rarely felt. Confidant in people, yes. But trust? Never. And another feeling that made her stare at him. She was worried.

* * *

Magneto found more images flashing in his head, long past and recently past images. Vaguely through it all he wondered if that meant he was about to die...  
  
He barked a dry laugh at that, and opened his eyes. Airen looked at him, obviously startled. He gazed right back at her.  
  
'She's not but a child.' He thought. 'For all of her show, I doubt she's ever killed anyone before.' He looked away, shaking his head. His shoulder- length hair got in his face. He tried to brush it away but there was still too much static in the air, and his hair clung stubbornly to his face.  
  
He heard a chuckle and glared at Airen. His headache came back right then. He growled and rubbed his temples, too tired to try to find his aspirin bottle. Airen mouthed, 'Headache?' He simply gave a curt nod.

* * *

Airen closed her eyes, thinking of all of the X-Men websites she'd been to and of the people she'd chatted with on the web. They'd agreed to one common thing about Magneto... For once, she was glad that she'd had a craze about the ideals of the X-Men books and show.  
  
She muttered the word she'd decided meant 'start' or something similar to it. A small amount of power trickled into her skin. She then held a hand up, towards Magneto's face and sent a spark at his temples. He attempted to evade what must have looked like an attack it, but her spark was determined and came back at him, hitting him in the head.  
  
He relaxed quite visibly as the spark massaged the tense muscles in his head. Airen smiled in spite of herself. "I'll join you on one condition, Erik."  
  
She paused and gave a mental growl at slipping up again. "If you let me do a little experiment on you, I'll do, well, nearly anything you want me to do." He looked back up at her, his eyes sharp.  
  
"And what might this... 'experiment' be?" His voice was thick with distrust. Airen gave a sigh.  
  
"If you don't use your powers for a whole week." She leaned back, waiting for him to take her head off, or at least try to. Nothing happened. She looked at him and saw his eyes were closed, deep in thought.  
  
Finally he looked up. "As long as you stay here and do 'nearly everything I say' I'll do this." He paused. "How long are you planning on staying?"  
  
Airen smiled in relief. "Either until you try to do something as dumb as running off of a cliff or until you say I can leave."


	5. Changing Light

Jazz: Uh.. idea for what, pray tell? wondering if Darkfire's being possessed means she should act like Anubis Uhh... Grrr!

* * *

Higher  
When dreaming I'm guided to another world...  
Time and time again  
At sunrise I fight to stay asleep  
'Cause I don't want to leave the comfort of this place  
'Cause there's a hunger, a longing to escape  
From the life I live when I'm awake

* * *

Airen sat cross-legged, reaching deep into herself to understand this odd language. She felt her two known powers, controlling electricity and what she'd dubbed 'Traveling', the later she'd learned could be modified to take her anywhere on a planet and perhaps through dimensions. That was not likely true, but it would explain how she had gotten to this dimension. How her friends had gotten stuck with her, she had no idea, but that could be fixed.  
  
Shrouded in shadows she had found was this odd language that was bothering her to no end. After four days of coming back to this she'd only figured out that the language was the key to controlling her electrifying power.  
  
Erik, she'd by now given up on addressing him properly, had watched, quite interested. He'd even sent his Acolytes on a two-week long break to give her time to figure out her powers.  
  
She tried, again, to tap into her second tongue. Again, she simply went through the dark spot in her mind and came out of her trance empty-handed. She scowled and tried again.  
  
She finally gave up, at least for the time being as Erik entered the room. He said nothing, but Airen dragged herself to her feet and followed him. Even if her attempts to figure out the second language in her head were failing, her experiment with Erik was certainly something to be proud of. He'd grown calm and his headaches had all but vanished. Plus working with her had kept him out of becoming broody, something that she'd expected to happen.  
  
What ever he'd thought of his mood-change he kept to himself, if he'd noticed any difference at all.  
  
Airen followed him to a large open yard. In it, items ranging from cars to tankers were found on the flat metallic surface of the navy ship that Erik had resurfaced a week before he and Airen had met.  
  
He never mentioned what he had planned on doing with it, and Airen wasn't going to ask. He told her where it was and asked for her to take them there. Currently they were using it as a place to figuring out Airen's powers and exactly how far her abilities extended.  
  
Her training ranged from calling electricity from a certain generator and leaving the others unused to teleporting all over the world collecting a small random 'proof item' from that specific area.  
  
"Today," Erik grinned, bringing Airen back to the present. "You're going to Paris. Bring something a bit bigger than a person back."  
  
Airen nodded. She knew he was building her strength and ability to navigate to a specific area without any real indication where it was. Though she was becoming stronger and more accurate than she believed Erik had yet succeeded in understanding.  
  
Airen closed her eyes and mentally 'located' the Eiffel Tower before vanishing.

* * *

Almost immediately Erik became uneasy at how vague he'd been. He knew that she was powerful, but maybe he should have been a bit more specific. He closed his eyes and tried to keep track of where his student was, but opened his eyes when he realized that she was back already.  
  
He looked up and saw Airen grinning both proudly and mischievously. Using her powers she was holding two things that startled him. First was an entire hotel building. Oddly, no one appeared to be inside. The he remembered that it was about 1:00 PM there, so most of the people would be sightseeing. The other thing was the entire Eiffel Tower.  
  
He definitely should be more specific next time...  
  
Airen set the Tower down on the ship and vanished with the building, hopefully to return it, before Erik yelled at her.  
  
He walked over to the huge tower and put a hand on it just to make sure that it was real. Unfortunately, it was...

* * *

Airen, still grinning, came back. She landed next to the tower and looked at her teacher. Her grin vanished as she looked at him. His long hair had fallen over his face, shadowing his current emotion. He was leaning against the Eiffel Tower, shaking his head.  
  
She watched him uneasily, waiting for him to say something.  
  
"Airen." She stiffened a bit. "What were you thinking?" Airen frowned. What was _he_ thinking?  
  
"Get something big?" She tried. That sent him over the edge. He burst out laughing.  
  
"Big? Could you have gotten any bigger?"  
  
"Not in Paris." She sighed, not even bothering to hide her relief. Erik shook his head, still smiling.  
  
"Go off." She raised an eyebrow. "If you can do this already than you should have a break. But take the Tower back first and try not to be seen."  
  
"Thanks." She murmured. He nodded and walked back under the deck. She could hear him chuckle as she took hold of the Tower and brought it back to where it belonged.

* * *

Elisa yawned. The ache of training under Wolverine and the X-Men had nearly vanished. All she knew was that she was glad that spring break was here and she was angry that she'd had to get up at 5:00 AM sharp for a two-hour training session.  
  
And the ache was back.  
  
The once skeptical Zenn sat across from her. Now he had evolved into the leader of their group. Jasmyn sat next to him and the two of them began chatting about random things. School, mutants, training, whose powers are better, and Airen.  
  
"Maybe she'll come back today." Jasmyn said, exited.  
  
"Humph. You've said that every morning since she left. Don't you get it? She probably found a way back and abandoned us." Zenn snorted. Elise knew how much the mention of their lost friend and leader hurt him.  
  
Jasmyn got up and began engaging herself with her flowers. Go figure, her powers involve plants. These particular ones wrapped themselves around her fingers. "No wonder you can't take care of a single daisy, Zenn. Your thoughts are all doom and gloom. Maybe you should go be friends with Rogue for all that you are the same."  
  
"And you with Kitty." Zenn retorted hotly. His own powers were with water. Elise had Empathy. James, the last of their group, came in and saw the argument heat up between the water mage and plant sorcerer. He sat down next to Elise, who was glad of his appearance.  
  
"Lovers' quarrel?" He asked with a wink. Both Zenn and Jasmyn flushed. Elise giggled. James could control the wind. That power suited him as well as Jasmyn because of him blowing a continuous hot wind. Meaning of course he had a constantly flowing mouth.  
  
Wolverine came in just then. "Slackers." He snorted. He paused and sniffed the air. "Chuck? I smell somethin'."  
  
(Yes. I feel it.) Xavier broadcasted to the mutants in the room. (Someone extremely powerful is-)  
  
"Is what?" Logan demanded. There was no answer.  
  
"I'll give them a welcome. A wet welcome." Zenn smirked. He ran outside before anyone could stop him, and was blasted back by an unseen force. Elise, Jasmyn, and James stood up, awaiting the invading enemy.  
  
A tall, muscular and tanned teen entered. Elise tried to figure out what this fellow wanted, but couldn't get as much as its gender from it. It strode in, heavily dressed. With long sleaves, leather gloves and boots, long pants and a shawl and mask covering most of the stranger's face, Elise's Empathy was oddly thrown off. She momentarily wondered how the stranger could withstand the heat with so much clothes on when Jasmyn's plants grew and attempted to ensnare the stranger.  
  
He didn't even try to resist. Jasmyn, sweating with the effort of holding onto the stranger, announced, "I got him!" The stranger bared his teeth in a snarl, 'Or was it a grin?' Elise thought. The stranger cocked his head to the left and he vanished out of the tight snare and reappeared slightly to the left of his former prison. Jasmyn's plants were too tangled to be of any more help.  
  
James sent a pocket of wind at the stranger. It would have worked, but he simply held up an arm and gestured, destroying James's hard work.  
  
Logan snarled and lunged for hand-to-hand combat. A harsh voice came from the stranger at this, "Norsen." All of the lights above and around him began to glow and pure electricity lashed at him. Instead of hurting him, the electricity seemed to dance around the stranger's body. He bared his teeth, but again because everything but his mouth was covered up, no one could see what his true expression was.  
  
Logan knew it would be futile to charge the stranger with all on that power circulating around him. "Who are you? What do you want?"  
  
The stranger continued to bare his teeth. "I am Death! I am here for YOUR SOULS! Mwahahahahahaha!"  
  
Logan backed away, shaken that a madman had this power. Elise felt like she was about to faint. The stranger then pulled his mask off. Familiar gray eyes danced in happiness. "April Fools." She managed before her friends charged her. She widened her eyes and floated out of reach. "Honestly. One touch could really send you to death." She scolded. Elise tried to find out if Airen was really mad, but a shield still blocked her emotions.

* * *

(I hope that you taught them better that this, Charles.) Airen questioned as she sent the built-up electricity back to where she'd gotten it.  
  
(I do as well.) Professor Xavier chuckled. (Give them a break. They thought you dead or that you'd abandoned them.)  
  
Airen came back down and allowed her friends to hug her. She thought she'd never see the light of day again. Zenn was the only one who behaved differently. After the others had backed away, he kicked Airen hard and leaned against her, tears coming down his cheeks.  
  
Airen hugged him, wondering what had made him so angry. She decided to ask later.  
  
"Airen, how did you get so strong? Did you find Magneto? Did you fight him? I bet you kicked his butt!" Jasmyn asked, bouncing up and down. Zenn joined the others, waiting for Airen to spill the beans about her travels.  
  
"I'm not certain I can answer all of those questions at once!" Airen laughed. "One at a time."  
  
"Did you find Magneto?" Elise asked, her eyes shining.  
  
"Yes." Airen answered simply.  
  
"Did you fight?" Jasmyn asked.  
  
"Yes." Airen frowned, and rubbed her neck in memory.  
  
"Did you beat him?" Dalton asked casually.  
  
"Yes." She made sure that Charles couldn't read her mind.  
  
"Did you kill anyone?" James joked, believing that everyone already knew the answer.  
  
Airen stopped rubbing her neck. She shivered remembering Eternity's scream and the smell... "Yes." She managed.  
  
A shocked silence followed this admission.  
  
"Who was it?"  
  
"Was it Magneto?"  
  
"How'd you kill him?"  
  
"Why did you kill him?"  
  
Airen winced at the flood of questions. "He was a crazy man. He called himself Eternity. He was controlling a friend of mine, trying to make him kill me." Airen paused. "I destroyed the device that controlled my friend and I killed Eternity with my electric powers."  
  
James hesitantly asked, "Who's your friend?"  
  
Airen smiled. "His name is Erik."  
  
"Will we get to meet him?" Elise asked.  
  
"Maybe. I honestly don't know."  
  
There was another pause. Then James asked, "How did you get so powerful?"  
  
"Erik is a mutant. Our powers are a bit similar so he's teaching me as a 'thank you'."  
  
"And what happened to Magneto? Do you know what he's doing? We heard that the Eiffel Tower vanished then reappeared later. Do you know anything about it?"  
  
Airen laughed long and hard. "I moved the Tower. It was a test of how powerful I was. Did anyone notice that the hotel is facing the wrong way too?" She fell over laughing.  
  
Her friends chuckled nervously. This was Airen, but she was much more powerful. Also, something else about her was different...  
  
"Jasmyn, who's Erik?" Airen managed. She brought them over to the couches. Wolverine, Airen had noticed, had left.  
  
"How should I know?" She demanded, confused.  
  
"You had a crush on 'who' that was related to Magneto, also know as..." Airen hinted.  
  
The mention of the 'who', Joseph, made Jasmyn blush. "Joseph, who was a clone of Magneto, also known as... Erik!" She shouted the last. Airen winced.  
  
"Ow." She shook her head. "Plants and supersonic screeches?" Airen joked.  
  
"Wait." James said, "So you met Magneto, fought him, killed Eternity, and now you're training under him!" He too, ended with shouting.  
  
A headache began to haunt Airen. "Ow..." She said again. "It went something like that..."  
  
"Airen!" Zenn said, very pale now. "Magneto's a killer! You can't trust him! Stay here, with us, so he can't turn on you and hurt you!"  
  
Airen sighed. She'd anticipated that something like this would happen. "I know. But so many weird things have happened. Besides, I'm sure I can trust him. It's weird, but true." She paused. "It's been nice seeing you. Maybe sometime we'll have a whole day together. I have to talk to the Professor now. Goodbye.  
  
And if I find a way off of this planet, I'll let anyone who wants to leave know immediately." She ended. Before anyone could argue, Airen had teleported upstairs.

* * *

Just as Airen expected, Xavier had said nothing about her coming back to stay. He'd just asked for her to be careful and to come back soon.  
  
Erik was waiting when Airen came back. He looked both surprised and relieved. He said nothing, but only smiled and said that he'd be going to bed early.  
  
Airen watched his retreating form, worry etched in every part of her body. Usually, he'd ask how her day had been. And he never went to bed early. He and Airen would always think about how they could increase her training without stressing her growing power, or at the least he would complain about not being able to use his powers.  
  
She shrugged. 'Maybe he's just tired. I don't know what he's done today.' Airen thought as she decided that going to bed early sounded like a good idea.

* * *

Erik hovered over the ship, silently begging Airen's forgiveness before he flew away. 


End file.
